Alonso pleased with Istanbul result

Renault's Fernando Alonso was pleased with his race -- and thinks he got the
best possible result from his afternoon's work in Istanbul...
Q: Fernando, how was your race?
Podium: Fernando Alonso.
Photo by xpb.cc.
Fernando Alonso:...

Renault's Fernando Alonso was pleased with his race -- and thinks he got the
best possible result from his afternoon's work in Istanbul...

Q: Fernando, how was your race?

Podium: Fernando Alonso.

Photo by xpb.cc.

Fernando Alonso: Pretty much what I expected to be honest. We knew that McLaren would be
quick, because we saw that in practice. That meant we changed our strategy
for the weekend a bit. I was running quite early in qualifying, so we needed
to overcome that -- and we decided to use quite a light fuel load. That put
us in a good position on the grid, and to stay in touch with the McLarens
through the first stint.

Q: What happened next?

FA: Nothing unusual. After the pit-stops, Kimi was still ahead and we knew
we wouldn't be able to catch him in a normal race. Montoya was ahead as
well, and just as fast. So we did not take too many risks, and I tried to
just do a constant race. I tried not to lose concentration and to stay
consistent.

Q: Then you seized the opportunity when Montoya had some problems...

FA: Exactly. Two laps from the end, I saw yellow flags and a McLaren and
Jordan off the track. I understood what had happened, but Montoya got back
on track in front of me and it would have been hard for me to overtake if
his car had not caught him out a bit later on. That was a nice surprise.

Q: What are your conclusions from the weekend?

FA: I think we can be pleased with the job we did. This was a good weekend
for Renault. I only lost two points to Kimi, which is positive. People will
say I was lucky, and it's partly true, but you need to seize your
opportunities. But our competitors were very quick. In the constructors'
title, McLaren are getting closer and it will be a tight battle until the
end of the year. We can't let up the pressure and in that perspective,
Fisico's fourth place was really useful.